Money for College
With more than 400,000 full-time students spread across 64 campuses, the State University of New York is the largest comprehensive system of colleges and universities in the nation. Now, in an effort to relieve some of the strain of its extraordinary deficit, New York is considering using some of its educational assets to its economic advantage. On June 1, Governor David Paterson accepted a report from the New York State Commission on Asset Maximization that strongly urged the state to unload property on several SUNY campuses. By leasing dorms and other buildings to private companies, New York hopes not only to relieve its fiscal pain, but also to relieve the pocketbooks of hardworking parents by adding some stability to crippling tuition costs.